Love In The Limelight
by iluvclarkkentxx
Summary: Ron and Hermione disagree with Harry's take on his celebrity, but Draco doesn't, so Harry decides to befriend him. Secrets are revealed and Harry begins to wonder about himself, and what secrets he may be unconsciously hiding. Post DH. EWE.
1. Becoming Friends

Hey guys! I finally started a new story! Harry/Draco **(explicit slash of course)** So here's my warning. **MANSEX AFOOT! 3 **I will probably be updating this about every two weeks. (I know..forever lol) But it's only going to be a short story. (Probably about four chapters) So it shouldn't be too bad. Besides, the chapters are much longer than my usual.

Oh yeah..I don't own Harry Potter...blah blah blah! You know the drill. Read on and **review!**

**Summary:** Ron and Hermione disagree with Harry's take on his celebrity, but Draco doesn't, so Harry decides to befriend him. Secrets are revealed and Harry begins to wonder about himself, and what secrets he may be unconsciously hiding. Post DH. EWE.

*******

**PART 1: **Becoming Friends

"I can't believe Hermione is making me go shopping." Ron groaned as he shuffled his feet down Diagon Alley. Ron never went clothes shopping on his own since birth. He grew up with mostly hand-me-downs and hand knitted clothes from his mum. Even on the rare occasion he got something new, his mum would go out and buy it for him.

But now, as a grown man, he passed on the job to his girlfriend, Hermione. Normally she didn't have a problem doing the shopping. I knew this because I was always the one to accompany her. But her work with the Wizengamot and work with Magical Law kept her too busy to bother with shopping. So now I was accompanying a very reluctant Ron.

"I mean she's taking a holiday in two weeks, couldn't this have waited?"

"I'm pretty sure the purpose of a holiday is to enjoy your time off."

"Girls enjoy shopping. It's like quidittch to us, shopping is."

"It's really not to bad Ron. We'll be in and out."

"With these crowds? I doubt it. We'll probably get stuck here all afternoon." He groaned once again for emphasis.

"Well, I could always use a little persuasion to get out quicker." I suggested, and he looked as happy as he would on Christmas morning.

"Yes, do it. Anything, I hate being around all these people." He gestured towards the group of people staring at me from a distance. I've grown use to it, but I think Ron was getting a little bitter from being referred to as Harry Potter's best friend all the time.

We got to the crowded shop and I immediately took to the first associate I could find.

"Excuse me miss," I said putting on my most charming smile. She turned and squeaked just a little, obviously realizing who was talking to her.

"Mr. Potter. How can I help you?"

"Please call me Harry," she immediately blushed, and I knew it was working. "I have a little problem I was hoping you could help with."

"Of course, anything, Harry." She blushed again and I placed my hand on her arm and moved in to whisper to her.

"See my friend and I really need to do some shopping, and well, we sort of bring a crowd with us. I was wondering if it'd be possible for you to lock the doors and not let anyone in while were shopping."

"Oh," she said nervously, "I would love to help, but I can't lock the doors. It's our prime season, and if we locked everyone out for one person, we could lose a lot of business."

"I understand, truly I do, but it won't be more than thirty minutes, I promise."

"I'm sorry, but there's really nothing I can do."

"Hmm," I hummed quietly. This has never failed me before, and I wasn't about to give up that easily. "I know your boss wouldn't mind. She's done it for me before." Which was true enough. Granted it was a lot less busy and it was to stop a bunch of second year Hogwarts students from following me around.

"I'm sorry." She said a little more sternly, and I quickly changed me tune as well.

"Then I'm afraid I'm going to have to speak to your manager."

"She has the day off Mr. Potter. Come back another time and see if she'll accommodate you." She didn't seem to believe talking to her manager would change the situation one bit, but I thought differently.

"Could you call her for me? I would really like to speak to her."

"Listen Mr. Potter, I have plenty of customers who need my assistance. I don't have time to make ridiculous floo calls to satisfy one's needs at any given moment."

"Is that how you speak to your customers? I suggest you call her now before I do it myself."

"Do whatever you want, I have to get back to work." She stormed off in a huff and began talking to a different customer.

"That didn't go so well," Ron laughed from behind me, but I didn't find it so funny. I have never been denied something as simple as a quick private shopping, and wasn't about to start now.

"Come on." I began walking towards the back of the shop and straight into the back room, Ron following behind.

"Um, I don't think we should be back here."

"You heard her. Do whatever I want. Well, I want to speak to her manager."

*******

"Seriously Harry, I can't believe you got the girl fired for doing her job properly." Technically I didn't get her fired, but there was no point trying to make that argument again. I just called the manager and told her the situation, then she proceeded to yell at her employee. If the girl didn't feel the need to argue back, she would have kept her job. I see no way how I should be blamed for her need to back talk to her superiors.

"Well her manager didn't seem to think so." I said smugly. I was tired of listening to her rant about this. Yeah, I may have been a little out of line, but so what. I saved the entire wizarding world when no one else could, I think I deserve a few privileges, even simple ones at private shopping.

"I can't believe you're defending what you've done! Even Ron thinks you were out of line!" I looked over to Ron, who seemed mortified. I wasn't sure because what she said was true and he didn't want to admit it to me, or if it wasn't and he didn't want to admit that to his girlfriend.

"Listen, if she would have just locked the doors for a few minutes, this all could of been avoided. Her job is to satisfy customers, not refuse them."

"So you think she should just lock the doors when anyone decides they don't like shopping in crowds."

"No, not anyone."

"You don't deserve special treatment just because you're famous Harry."

"Not because I'm famous, no. But for what I'm famous for."

"I can't believe you. Is that why you stopped Voldemort? Is that why we spent a year chasing horcruxes with you? You wanted some extra privileges, is that it?" She looked an awful lot like Mrs. Weasley when she scolded me, which still happens time to time even though I'm twenty three years old.

"You know that's not it, but hey, I risked my life time and time again to save people. I watched my friends and family being murdered, but I kept fighting. Not because I really enjoyed watching loved ones die and risking my life. I did it because I had to, because no one else could. So yeah, I think I deserve a little special treatment."

"When did you become so arrogant?" I just stared at her. She was wrong, so wrong. But I was not going to fight with her all day. I had work to do. My lunch was almost over and I had to get back to the office.

"I should get back to work. You coming Ron?" Ron shook his head, knowing Hermione would take his leaving with me as taking my side. I didn't care. I'd walk back alone.

Just as I was leaving the diner, a familiar voice sounded from behind me.

"Of all the things I've heard come out of your mouth, that was probably the least stupid of them." I turned to look at Draco Malfoy. I've seen him almost every day for the past 3 years, since we both work at the Ministry, but this is the first time he's ever spoken to me.

"Um, thanks?"

"Honestly, don't listen to your friends," he spat out the word as if talking about them caused him harm, but I just ignored it. "If it hadn't been for you, our world would be reduced to slaves, dead mudbloods and blood traitors living in fear, if their lucky. We owe you, Potter."

I just laughed. "We? You can't honestly be referring to yourself? If I would of lost, surely you'd be fine. Pureblood and all."

"Weren't you listening. The mudbloods would be dead, Potter. But me, I'd be a slave." I let his words sink in, knowing he was right. Thats all death eaters were, slaves to Voldemort. Personally, I'd prefer death. Of course, that would have been my only other option if I never managed to kill him.

"I guess." I answered and he just rolled his eyes.

"Well, see you Potter."

"Bye." Then he disapparated. I thought that was stupid considering the Ministry was a block away, but I decided to focus more on his words, and less on his laziness. This being the first conversation since the night Voldemort died, when I saved his life after he tried to kill me. Well maybe not so much him, but still. He certainly wasn't fighting for me.

*******

After that day, Malfoy and I would nod or say hello when we ran into each other, but nothing more. It was a little awkward considering he was my childhood nemesis, and now he was a friendly acquaintance but I didn't care. Most of the people who said hello to me, I didn't even know.

Hermione's been giving me the silent treatment since that day, but I never saw too much of her anyway. Ron didn't mention the subject at work at all, so I take it that the situation didn't bother him as Hermione said it did.

But today was our weekly lunch together. Every Friday we would eat out of the Ministry's cafeteria to meet up with Hermione, and I wasn't looking forward to it.

"You good to go?" Ron asked as he poked his head into my office.

"Uhh, yeah," I threw some paperwork into my desk roughly and got up to grab my robe."Is Hermione going to speak to me today?"

"Yeah, um, about that. She's not coming."

"She's really that angry about it?"

"Well she sort of took it personal that you didn't agree with her."

"You don't think what I did was wrong, did you?" Ron immediately looked away, confirming that he did with no words. "C'mon Ron, you wanted me to have the shop closed off too."

"Yeah, mate, but you should have let it go when she said no. It was so embarrassing."

"Oh, I embarrass you now. Well, don't worry about that anymore. You go on and eat, I'll be here far away from you."

"You know I didn't mean it like that. Just come to lunch with me."

"I'm really not even that hungry anymore, I think I'll just work so I can leave a little early today." He looked as if he was about to protest once more, but then just turned around and walked away.

Hermione's attack did bother me, but nothing like Ron's did. He was always one to defend me. But I guess his relationship is more important that our friendship. I knew it would happen someday, and I'm actually surprised it's taken as long as it had.

*******

The next day Ron asked if we could put the whole situation behind us. Thirteen years of friendship seemed more important than a silly argument, so I agreed.

However, the next Friday afternoon, he never showed up for lunch. Neither did Hermione. No one gave me an explanation, but it was clear that our Friday lunches were officially over.

Neither one of us brought it up. We continued to eat our lunches in the cafeteria together during the rest of the week, but come Friday, Ron was scarce. Presumably off with Hermione having lunch out while I ate alone in the cafeteria.

A few weeks into the situation, I've grown tired of eating out of the Ministry's cafeteria. I was itching to go out to eat, but I just hated going alone. Every time I was alone, people felt it necessary to approach me and ask to eat with me. I always felt so rude saying no, and would get stuck speaking to some fan struck girl who would either talk forever, or not at all. Both were not ideal situations.

I asked two other aurors if they wanted to join me, but one said he was too busy working, and the other already had lunch plans with his girlfriend. He invited me along, but I had enough of being a third wheel in my life, so I politely declined.

Just when I was about to give up and have another dull lunch, I spotted Draco Malfoy, in tow with his traveling cloak towards the exits.

"Malfoy!" I shouted successfully grabbing his attention. "Going to lunch?"

"Well seeing how it is lunch time, I thought that was obvious Potter."

"Do you mind if I join you?" I asked boldly and Malfoy just smirked.

"Finally ditching your friends Potter? I've noticed you haven't been meeting with them anymore." I blushed, not wanting to admit it was my stubbornness that forced me to eat alone every week. But another thought dominated.

"You noticed, have you?" I wasn't actually surprised Malfoy would keep tabs on me. It's pretty much expected of him.

"I've eaten at the same diner as your friends for the past two years, how could I not notice?" I suddenly felt very stupid. Not only am I an auror of three years, and have never once noticed Malfoy at that diner. But thinking Malfoy was watching every move I made, when in reality we just happened to enjoy eating at the same place.

"Right. Well," I stuttered "So can I join you or not?"

"If your presence bothered me, I wouldn't have been speaking to you for this long."

"So that's a yes then?"

"Merlin, you're an idiot Potter." Definitely a yes.

*******

"How could you think you were the heir of Slytherin?" It was our third week of lunches together. We've been going to the diner we both were accustomed too, but apparently Ron and Hermione found somewhere new to eat.

We've grown into habit of talking of our school days together. It was actually quite interesting hearing it from both of our points of view.

"I didn't say I thought I was. I just wasn't sure if I was or not." He just laughed, but I continued on. "Well when you can speak another language, let alone the language of snakes, without having any knowledge on how or why you can, it's a little disconcerting. It made sense that I was his heir. Other than the Slytherin line, no other known wizards could do it."

"Besides you, Potter. You are always the exception." Something about the way he said those words made me blush.

"I can only speak parseltongue cause Voldemort tried to kill me." He gave a sharp intake of breath when I said the name, but otherwise handled it better than most. Besides, I figured he'd have more to be scared of. He was one of the few people still alive to face Voldemort and live to remember it.

"How does that work exactly?"

"When Voldemort tried and failed to kill me, the first time anyway," he rolled his eyes at this, but allowed me to continue. "He transferred some of his powers to me. Like being a parselmouth."

"He transferred powers to you?" He asked disbelievingly and I just nodded. "Let me get this straight. He actually gave you some of his powers? No offense or anything, but you're not nearly as powerful as he was."

"How would you know how powerful I am exactly?"

"Maybe not so much anymore, but I know how you were at school."

"How many people do you know that killed a basilisk, produce a full body patronus, survived through the tri-wizard tournament and win it before they even reach fifteen?" He just smirked, but not in the stuck up snotty way he did in school. It was as if he was sharing a private joke with himself. It was, well, nice.

"How come you never boasted about any of this at school? You could have really knocked me down a few pegs back then?"

"I didn't need any more attention back then."

"And now?"

"I know what I've done for our world, and I know people are constantly going to find ways to invade my privacy one way or another. I figure it might as well be for the good things I've done. And if I get a few perks in the deal, why not? Fighting it never helped matters. I figured it's about time I embrace what the world has made me out to be."

"Touché" He replied, the smirk never leaving his face.

*******

"Finally ditch the Weasel for good then?" Draco asked me as he sat across from me in the Ministry's cafeteria. It was the first time we've ever talked outside of our diner or the hallways. It was a little surprising.

"No, he just has extra work he needs to get done."

"And yesterday?"

"Sick day, hence the extra work today."

"Hmm," he sounded disappointed, but I let it go.

"How come you're eating here? I never see you eat lunch here." He picked at his sandwich with distaste. "You haven't, had you?"

"No. I have much higher standards when it comes to what I allow into my body."

"So why are you here then?" _And how come you knew I ate alone yesterday,_ I said to myself as an afterthought.

"I just thought you might want the company." I wasn't fooled, and I don't think he expected me to be. He always ate alone, until we started having lunches together or Friday. I remembered how lonely I got from having lunch alone once a week.

"Yeah, you're always welcome." I said honestly. It was true enough. I enjoyed our conversations, but wasn't sure Ron would feel the same if he took me up on the offer.

*******

The next day I found out exactly how Ron would think of Draco Malfoy sharing our table for lunch.

"Potter." That's how he greeted me as he sat down. Ron just stared at him as he began to prepare his lunch, obviously brought from home. "Something interest you Weasley?" He said in monotone as Ron just continued to stare him down.

"I'm actually wondering why you're sitting here Malfoy. I've already told you it's not happening."

"What's not happening?" I asked truly confused, but both of them ignored me.

"For your information Weasel, Harry invited me to sit here." Ron looked at me for conformation and I nodded, still a little stunned that he called me Harry.

"Yeah, well he probably just felt sorry for you," which wasn't exactly false, but it wasn't the only reason. "It means nothing. That's never happening, so get over it."

"What's never happening? Are either of you guys going to tell me what you're talking about?"

"No." They both answered at once.

"Just leave Malfoy. Before you make matters worse."

"Before I make matters worse? But you-"

"Just shut up and leave."

"Harry invited me." That was the second time he called me Harry in the past two minutes. I've never once heard him call me that, except when mocking me. It was a little odd.

"Ron, is it really such a big deal? We're just eating."

"Harry, you don't know." He looked back at Malfoy, "But trust me. It is a big deal."

"Forget it. I'd much rather eat alone." Draco got up, leaving his food behind, and stormed out of the cafeteria.

"Um, care to explain what that's about?"

"I can't."

"What do you mean you can't? You tell me everything!"

"Yeah, but I can't this time. I was sworn to secrecy."

"By who?"

"Kingsley."

"Kingsley? But he would only do that if it was auror business, and if it's auror business, you can tell me."

"I swore I wouldn't tell anyone, including you."

"He mentioned me exactly?" He shook his head. "Then tell me. I promise to keep it under the strictest confidences." He looked around and whipped out his wand casting a quick muffliato charm.

"I'll tell you, but trust me when I say, you're going to wish you never asked. I'd gladly give every galleon to my name to erase it from my memory."

"Just get on with it."

"Alright, six months ago, Kingsley asked me to handle a case, but before he told me anything about it, he made me swear to keep it private. I wouldn't have bothered if I've known was it was. But I had to know, so I agreed." He paused looking around once again as if someone was going to break his charm and overhear us.

"The case was about this underground club. It's private, and only the members of it know where it's located. Some of the members were being cursed pretty roughly by a group of Wizards who found them out."

"Okay as horrible as that is, I don't see what it has to do with Malfoy, or why it's such a big secret anyhow."

"Well, Malfoy was a member of the club."

"So I'm suppose to be surprised that Malfoy is the member or an underground private club? What do they do, practice the Dark Arts?"

"I wish! No, it's a mens club." Okay, if I wasn't confused before, I definitely was now.

"Umm, this is a problem?"

"For Merlin's sake, Harry. It's for poofters. They have sex there."

"Oh," Realization dawned on me. "Malfoy's gay?" I just didn't know if I could believe that. I was certain I saw him with female lovers in the past couple years. "Okay, even if that's true, why does Malfoy's personal life have anything to do with me?"

"Oh come on Harry. He's after you!"

"What? Why would he want me?"

"Oh let's see, it couldn't be because you're rich, famous, handsome, have a great body.."

"Are you sure you don't want me for yourself?" I joked but he just did a mock laugh before continuing.

"My point is, you're a catch. Why wouldn't he be after you?"

"Well with that logic, apparently all gay guys would be after me. I think you're making a big deal out of nothing. I think he just needs some friends to tell you the truth."

"Harry, he's been stalking you for nearly two years! At first I thought he was planning some vendetta against you, but then I seen him at the club, and I knew. He's after you!"

"You make it sound like he's going to kidnap me and rape me." Ron just gave me a look that said that's exactly what he expected. "Come off it Ron. Even if what you say is true, I'm not worried. I'm sure it's just a little crush if anything."

"Just stay away from him, to be safe. Don't give him the wrong idea."

"That may be difficult." He had a bemused expression on his face, not unlike the one I surely sported minutes before. "We've sorta been having lunch together every week."

"What? But you eat with me all week."

"Except for Fridays."

"Oh." Another problem we never discussed approached. "Right, Harry. I think it's time we put that all behind us. Hermione and I will be at the diner Friday. Just meet us there, okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

*******

I didn't know what to think of what Ron told me. After thinking more on it, it did make sense that Malfoy was gay. I couldn't recall any female lovers besides Pansy Parkinson. I never even seen Malfoy acknowledge her as such though, even though she tended to boast about it at school.

He didn't show up at the cafeteria again the next two days either, so what Ron said must have had some effect on him. But now it was Friday and I knew he was about to stop by my office ready for lunch, and I could only hope Ron didn't do the same. I didn't want to listen to another one of their arguments.

There was a quiet knock on my door letting me know Malfoy was there. Ron never knocked.

"Come in." He walked inside. Immediately I could tell he was nervous. Which made telling him I couldn't have lunch today that much harder.

"Are we going to lunch today?"

"Ron asked me to eat with him and Hermione today."

"Patching things up with your friends then?" He said a little accusingly.

"That's the general idea."

"The Weasel told you about Cheriwood, didn't he?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You're a horrible liar Potter. I know he told you." I sighed, realizing Cheriwood must be the name of his little club for men and nodded. "So that's what this is about." Not a question.

"No, honestly. You're personal life is none of my business. But Ron asked me to meet him and Hermione. They're my best friends. I just want things to be right between us. Why don't you come with us?"

"Yeah cause that would work wonders. Just you and your friends have a great time." He said sarcastically before he began to storm away and a huge bubble formed in my stomach. I grabbed hold of his wrists till he spun around and faced me.

"I swear, this has nothing to do with you." He just looked at me with cold eyes, and I knew I had to do more than that to prove it to him. "After work. Meet me for drinks?" He thought about this then nodded before walking out of my office.

The bubble didn't go away, if anything it got worse. I was attempting to stay friends with my closest friends and my new, apparently homosexual, friend, but I'm not sure how much I succeeded. I was about to have my reconciliation lunch with Hermione, but all I could think about was whether or not I just asked Draco Malfoy out on a date.

*******

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	2. Discoveries

**Love In The Limelight**

**PART 2:** Discoveries

I never exactly apologized about my actions to Hermione, but I did apologize for yelling at her about it. We agreed to disagree on certain aspects of my celebrity, and she promised to be happy as long as I was happy. All in all, it went well. We decided to resume our Friday lunches at the diner.

The rest of the afternoon, I had to constantly force myself to concentrate on my work. I felt extremely ridiculous for feeling so nervous about going out for drinks with Malfoy.

_I've gone out with friends for drinks before,_ I kept trying to reassure myself that this was not a date. Just because Malfoy happened to be gay, didn't mean it was any different than those other times. Even if what Ron said was true, he knew I wasn't interested in him. I wasn't gay, and Malfoy surly knew that.

At least I hoped so.

Just minutes before I was ready to leave, Malfoy showed up at my office. He offered a very timid hello, which made me nervous, because I could tell he was nervous. Friends don't get nervous before they go out for drinks.

I just nodded to him, unable to form any words since my throat seemed to go incredible dry. I got up and followed him out of my office, clueless as what to say. We never had this problem so far, and it definitely made things a little more difficult. I knew we would never last through the night like this.

So in an effort to have something to say, I blurted out the first stupid thing that came to mind.

"Do you want me?" If I didn't speak extremely fast as I said it, it would of sounded like a come on, but by Draco's laughter, I could tell he distinguished the difference.

"Have you ever met a gay person?

"Yes, I have, I think." The laughter continued.

"Then I guess I'll let this slide. But No Potter, I don't want you, if that helps ease your mind. But I would appreciate if you kept your voice down about such things. It's not exactly public knowledge."

"Oh right, sorry." From there on out, things were much easier.

***

Since I was resuming my Friday lunches with Ron and Hermione, Malfoy and I decided to continue to go out for drinks on Friday evening.

It was actually quite the same as our lunches were, except at a later time. Ron seemed to think I was insane for continuing a friendship with a "poof who wanted to bugger me," but otherwise didn't say much. Hermione on the other hand thought I was being mature, allowing old differences to be put aside and become friends with my former enemy.

But Draco, yes he was Draco now, just as I was Harry to him. Well, he never once hinted that he was interested in me. He was just like any other of my male friends. We still talked about our past, and our days at work, and how much farther our Ministry still has to go to put right all the damage it accomplished during the war.

Nothing changed, until about our fifth night out.

Now normally, I never had more than two drinks at a time. I was sort of a light weight when it came to alcohol. After two, I could even be found slurring a few words, but I was still in complete control. But that night, I got so engulfed in our conversation, I had four.

"I do love being an auror, but its just...just so...I'm hungry." Draco's laughter, which was a lot different from when he was younger, echoed throughout the small pub.

"Maybe we should get something to eat then." I just nodded with a big smile on my face.

"Let's go there!" I said pointing to the posh restaurant just down the road. I've never gone to a fancy restaurant except for when I was dating Ginny, and I always felt uncomfortable. But tonight I wouldn't.

"I don't think were dressed appropriate." Which was true for me anyway, still honed in my auror robes. Draco, however, always looked like he was going to a fancy restaurant.

"I'm Harry Potter, they'll let me in." I said smugly, and Draco knew there was no argument for that.

"Harry, I really can't." I was too drunk to ask why so I just raised an eyebrow at him, hoping he would continue. "I'm not welcomed there. They told me to never return again." I started to laugh.

"What did you do? Stomp on a waiters nose or something," I kept laughing remembering how much that hurt when he did it to me, but now I just found the situation a little sad.

"No. I was born a Malfoy."

"That's no fair." He just smiled weakly and suggested a few other places, but I shook my head. "We're going there."

"Harry, I told you.."

"Well you're with me now. Come on."

***

Besides a few rude looks directed towards Draco, the restaurant allowed us to eat with no problems. Not from them anyway, but when I decided to have two glasses of wine with our dinner, I was a little worse for wear. But my auror instincts still were as sharp as ever.

Draco looked over to his left briefly, and saw a man nod to him. He was with his wife and kids, but no one noticed the nod but Draco, and it looked like he meant it that way.

"Who's that?" He looked stunned from me asking. The man was quite a bit older than him, and I thought maybe he was a friend of his fathers. Which of course Draco wouldn't want to tell me about, considering who his father was, and the fact that I'm an auror.

"Just a friend."

"How do you know him?" What can I say, my curiosity got the best of me. Besides, the four drinks from earlier, plus the two drinks with dinner, certainly took away some of my social courtesy.

"Cheriwood." I choked on my water and almost sputtered it across the table. "Just forget I said anything." He said quickly, trying to diffuse the situation.

"But he has a wife!"

"Yeah, that's why Cheriwood is a private club. You shouldn't even know about it." He snapped, clearly displeased at my reaction.

"Sorry." I tried to think about what I was saying, but I was too curious to let this one slide. "So, you've? You and him? You had sex?" Then he smirked.

"You really that curious Potter?" I blushed because I realized I actually was curious.

"It's just, he's so much older than you."

"Well it's not like I plan on marrying him. But yes, we have." It was a little unsettling to here him say it like it was no big deal. For a bloke, Draco was pretty attractive, so why he would resort to having sex with old married men baffled me.

"I think I want another drink." Although I certainly wished I hadn't.

***

"I'm gone' apparate."

"Yeah, and splinch yourself, that's a brilliant idea."

"I can do it. Watch." In my attempt to apparate, I spun in a circle and fell face first into the sidewalk, my arm slightly protecting me from splitting my head open.

"Were you trying to meet the sidewalk?" Draco managed to say through his laughter.

"Shut up and help me." He bent down and gripped my arms, pulling me up to my feet where I wobbled for a minute before finding my balance. "Maybe I'll just walk home."

"Let's just go back inside and use the floo. Much safer." But the thought of spinning through those green flames made me nauseas.

"No. Walk better." I said as I shook my head repeatedly.

"That will take over an hour to get to your house. Probably a lot more considering you can barely stand."

"I can make it, if you help me." He shook his head but grabbed my arm, forcing me to walk on. One fall later, I decided it best I wrapped my arm around Draco's shoulder for balance.

***

After a long walk, with many breaks, we made it back to my house at about midnight. Draco walked me into the hallway where I collapsed with my back to the wall in a fit of giggles.

"I told you I could make it."

"It wasn't an easy journey, that's for sure. Now lets get you over to the couch so I can get home." He crouched down to help me up, but I didn't give him any assistance. Instead, I reached out and thread my fingers through his hair, making him freeze.

"What's it like to have sex with another man?" The question left my lips before I really had time to think about what I was saying. He just sat there frozen. I let my fingertips trace his jawline, and that seemed to wake him up.

"Let's just get you to the couch."

"Tell me Draco. Tell me what it feels like."

"It feels like sex Harry. Just like sex."

"Mmm," I hummed before I was dropped roughly onto the couch. "I like sex."

"Don't we all."

"Kiss me." He looked down at me and I just smiled. He leaned down and brushed my hair out of my face. I closed my eyes, waiting for his lips to meet mine.

But they didn't come, and when I opened my eyes, Draco was gone.

***

The next morning was terrible. I had a pounding headache, multiple bruises on my body from constantly falling, and I was certain I tried to have sex with Draco last night. It was mortifying.

As I started to heal some of the larger bruises, a knock came on the door. I forced myself to get up and opened up to see two worried faces.

"I take it you haven't seen the Prophet this morning?" Hermione said holding a copy of the offending newspaper. I just groaned.

"What did they say now?" Instead of answer she just placed it on the kitchen table, as Ron began looking up the stairs as if he expected someone to come down. I just ignored his odd behavior and picked up the paper.

First thing I saw was a small photo of me being held around the waist by Draco. I seemed to be having a hard time to stand in the photo and and Draco was holding me up. I leaned my head down on his shoulder for the briefest moment in which Draco would close his eyes, in what only could be described as content.

I could tell just from this picture than Ron's words were the truth. Draco did have feelings for me. But it didn't bother me one bit. Although I did feel a lot worse about the things I said to him the night before. It must not have been easy for him. He might even thought I was mocking him intentionally, which I felt terrible for.

"What's the big deal?" I threw the paper down without reading a single word. The picture spoke millions, not so much to others maybe, but to me it did.

"They're saying your gay Harry!" Ron shouted as if it was the worse possible thing they could say. "And that you and Malfoy, well," he looked back up the stairs and I just laughed.

"Draco isn't upstairs Ron," he blushed, but finally took his attention away from the staircase.

"This doesn't bother you Harry?" Hermione asked softly.

"When have I let what the Prophet says bug me? It's all nonsense, who cares." Ron looked relieved that I called the whole situation nonsense and began to rummage through my cabinets. Hermione however, just continued to stare at me thoughtfully. "What?"

"Nothing, Harry. I just thought that this picture, was, well.."

"He was just helping me home. I drank too much."

"Yes, I can see that," Ron began making himself a sandwich and Hermione rolled his eyes at him. "But Malfoy.."

"Hermione, do we really have to do this? Malfoy is gay, I know that. But he does not like me," Ron just snorted. "He told me he didn't, and I believe him." Or I did anyway, until I seen this picture.

"Nothing happened last night then?"

"Merlin no, Hermione. You know I'm not gay!"

"Hey mate, it looks pretty bad. For a minute I even thought it was true."

"Yes, I did notice you staring up the staircase." He just shrugged apologetically. "Can we just forget about it?"

"If that's what you want." It certainly was.

***

I stayed home for the weekend, so I didn't really get a chance to see how the public reacted to the story until Monday morning. Pretty standard, constant stares and whispers, but they haven't bothered me since school. I just decided to ignore them and do my job.

When I got to my office there was a letter sitting on my desk. I opened it up to see it was from Draco.

_Meet me in my office as soon as you can. We NEED to talk. -Draco_

I sighed and realized he was probably quite angry at me for allowing everyone to think he was gay. I'm sure anyone who resorted to going to Cheriwood in order to keep their affairs private would be pretty upset to have their biggest secret posted across the front page of the Prophet.

I put my work aside and began walking back towards the lifts. The others in the hallway seemed to whisper even more about the fact I was walking to Draco's office, but once again I ignored it. I knocked on his door and it was swung open and Draco stood there looking frantic.

The second the door was shut, he began to pace.

"You should give an interview or something, telling them the truth. Maybe a press conference. Did anyone see you come here? It probably just made things worse. I shouldn't have asked you here."

"Draco calm down."

"Calm down? Everyone thinks were lovers Harry!"

"I know, and I'm sorry about that. But freaking out isn't going to solve anything."

"What are you sorry for?"

"For everything. If it wasn't for me, being too drunk, this wouldn't have happened."

"Yeah, well you're the one who has something to worry about. No one cares what I'm doing. People don't care if I take on a gay lover, but you, you're going to be crucified for this."

"Honestly, I don't care what everyone thinks."

"You don't?" I just shook my head and he sighed in relief. "So you're not going to tell them the truth?"

"Giving them anything just fuels the fire."

"Just don't say anything?"

"Nothing. If they corner you, just ignore them." He smiled slightly then nodded.

"I can do that."

***

The rumors didn't die down because of our refusal to speak of them. If anything, they only got worse. But some good did come from it. Draco never once mentioned me asking to kiss him, and his blatant refusal. But that didn't keep me from thinking about it.

At first I assumed it was because he honestly wasn't interested in me. Then I saw the picture of us together. I tried to bottle it up as physical attraction. He had a few drinks, he was gay, and as Ron himself told me, I am handsome. I could understand that, but the look on his face as my head fell to his shoulder, that was something else.

Draco really did have feelings for me.

That just brought on a million new questions. Was what Ron said true, did he really want me all this time? Or was this since we became friends? How much did he really like me? Was it a crush? Was he in love with me?

The questions floated around my head constantly, and I knew they wouldn't go away until I talked to Draco about it. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the answers, but I was going to find out nonetheless.

So Friday before I headed to meet Ron and Hermione for lunch I cornered him.

"We still on for drinks tonight?" Which was stupid to ask. We haven't bothered asking about it since we first started meeting. He just nodded. "Good, I was thinking we could meet at my place. Less camera lurking there."

"Your place?" He sounded nervous and I immediately blushed. What was I thinking? But instead of saying never mind, we'll go out, I nodded. "Okay, I guess I'll meet you there."

***

Talking to Draco about his feelings for me may have been a good in theory, but when he arrived at my door wearing dress robes and holding a bottle of wine, it suddenly seemed like my worse idea ever.

It was quite obvious he thought this a date, and I didn't know how to tell him otherwise. Ron's original plan to ignore him and not lead him on seemed like excellent advice, and I sure wish I would have listened.

Instead, I politely took the wine for him and poured us both a glass. Alcohol was definitely needed to get through the night.

It was the most awkward situation. We both sat in my sitting room, looking away from one another while sipping our wine. I wish we would have went out, that way we would have the bustling sounds of a busy pub to distract us.

"Did you hear Shacklebolt is trying to make it illegal to sell or trade house elves? Apparently after all that nonsense trying to force elf freedom failed, he thinks this will be better."

"Yeah, I heard. Hermione is the one who petitioned the law. Both of them actually." As much as I hated talking about Hermione's constant efforts with house elves freedom, I was grateful for something to talk about.

"Figures Granger would be behind this."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"It means your friend is an idiot."

"Hermione is one of the smartest people I know. She always bested you in school, and you know it."

"Alright, she may be intelligent on certain matters." He said almost jokingly as if him and Hermione were long lost friends. "But that doesn't mean any of this elf nonsense is worth her time. It's likely a muggleborn would try and force muggle beliefs down our throats."

"Muggle beliefs? Like slavery being wrong?"

"You know what I mean."

"Clearly I don't."

"Do you know any history on house elves?" Besides the long boring conversations Hermione made me listen to, I didn't know much of anything about house elves. I just shook my head. "House elves chose to serve Wizards for a chance to be educated. Granted it may have been a little barbaric, but those were different times. House elves use to be nothing but stupid little creatures with so much magic they didn't know how to control."

"I never heard about this." And I'm sure Hermione hadn't anyway, or I would have heard something about it.

"Of course you haven't. House elves don't like to boast about their ancestors being mindless idiots, now that they're intelligent beings. But nonetheless, they chose to serve us for our knowledge of controlling magic. So we did. They past on the knowledge to their children, and as payment for our services, they serve us."

"But still, you have to admit that's a little crazy. It was years and years ago. Surely they've paid their debt."

"But it's their tradition. It's part of their culture. The first few educated house elves decided to pass that on to their children. Who are we to choose their customs?"

"We could still pay them?"

"Don't you listen, Potter!" He said exasperated. "They feel as if they're paying a debt. To pay them is an insult."

"Maybe, to most of them. But I once knew a house elf who wanted freedom, and it was denied to him for a long time." There was no need for me to say anymore. I haven't talked much about Dobby since he was murdered rescuing me and my friends from Malfoy Manor. But Draco knew what I was talking about and seemed it was best to let the situation on house elves rest forever.

***

We didn't get much conversation in after that, so the awkward tension cropped back up. We were about halfway through the bottle of wine Draco brought, and I was beginning to feel more brave. I thought it was about time I started asking the questions I brought him here to ask.

"Do you like me?" Bluntness probably wasn't the best option, but subtlety was never my specialty.

"Do you like Granger?"

"What? Of course not, she's just my friend."

"Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I like every guy who crosses my path." Finally understanding what he was getting at I blushed and shook my head.

"I know that. But the picture of us, that they put in the Prophet."

"Sorry, next time I'll be sure to let you fall on your face. Wouldn't want you to get the wrong idea." He sounded bitter and disappointed and I immediately put my hand out and lightly touched his arm, as I would anyone.

"I didn't mean it like that." He didn't say anything but looked up at me for a second and sighed. "I like being your friend Draco, but that picture said a lot more than you just being a good friend. I just need to know if you want more than that."

"If anyone wants more, it's you." He shot back angrily. "You and you're little mind games. I'm not the one asking you about gay sex and practically begging for it on your couch." I knew that little tidbit wasn't going to stay hidden forever.

"I would hardly say I begged for anything. I just asked you to kiss me." I could barely think about that moment all week, and now here I was talking about it like it was nothing. I'm positive the wine had something to do with that, but I didn't care.

"You remember that, do you?" I just nodded, because my face was surely flushing and I didn't want to call attention to it by looking up. "So maybe instead of asking me how I feel about you, you should ask yourself how you feel about me."

He just stared at me waiting for me to respond, but I had nothing. After about a minute, he got up and left without another word.

***

The questioned stirred through my head all day Saturday. Now that I was completely sober, I could really think about it. I wasn't sure how I felt about Draco, or how I felt about being with a guy in general.

All I knew is that the idea didn't disgust me like it did Ron. I never really thought about guys like that before though. I didn't think too much about girls either, to be honest. I only ever slept with Ginny, but after a couple years with her, we realized we weren't as compatible as we were in school.

There's been no one since.

I guess for a twenty three year old guy, that was a little odd. I didn't have sex for over two years, and I certainly did miss it, but I wasn't one to sleep with someone without being in a relationship, and that just hasn't happened for me.

But now that I was fairly certain that Draco had feelings for me, the thought has crossed my mind. But I wasn't sure if it was any more than basic curiosity.

***

When Monday rolled around, I decided to talk to Draco, but couldn't find him anywhere. I stopped by his office three times, and every time it was vacant.

With an hour left of the day, I was positive he was avoiding me. I decided to wait for him outside the lifts twenty minutes before his shift was over.

Sure enough, I spotted him trying to sneak out of his office ten minutes early. The look on his face when he saw me standing by the lifts was priceless.

"Have you been avoiding me Draco?"

"I don't avoid my problems Potter."

"Well that's funny, because I've been trying to talk to you all day, but just kept having rotten luck I guess."

"I've been extremely busy today."

"Busy enough to leave ten minutes early," he blushed only slightly at his obvious lie. Of course if you didn't know him, you would have never seen it. "What exactly do you do anyway?"

"You don't know what I do? We've worked together for three years!" I just shrugged, never giving it much thought. "I work for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

"I know that much, but what exactly do you do."

"Well basically I go through all the finer detail of cases, and deciding whether or not the charges are accurate."

"That sounds incredibly boring."

"Like being an auror is so great? Half my job is spent clearing up all the mistakes you guys make."

"I never once claimed we were perfect, but at least we get some action in. Well not so much lately, but I imagine that's a good thing."

"Yeah, until you all lose your jobs. Less crime might sound good in theory, but they're not going to pay you all that money to sit around all day."

"I don't sit around all day. I do plenty!"

"I don't think it matters when it comes to you. There's no way the Ministry would ever let go Harry Potter."

"Maybe. The novelty of being me won't last forever. People will start to forget."

"People will never forget." He said quietly, and I knew what he was really saying. He would never forget.

The words touched me deeply. I wasn't sure what my feelings for Draco were, but I knew I wanted to find out. I would never sort them out by myself. Having one date couldn't hurt, right? Just to help me figure things out.

"Come to my house tonight. For dinner." He looked completely shocked by I just stood my ground, waiting for an answer.

"What?"

"My house. Tonight. Dinner."

"Like a date?" Draco seemed to blush very noticeably now and I just smiled.

"Yeah, like a date." He just sat there speechless. The silence would kill me, so I probed him for an answer. "So, you'll come?"

Twenty seconds later, he still hadn't said a word.

"Listen, I'll make this easy. I'm making dinner for two tonight. It should be ready by six. Please don't make me eat alone." I forced myself to walk away, without looking back until I reached the apparation points.

When I did, I saw he had the same look he had in the photo of us together in the Prophet. And I realized I rather enjoyed that look and only hoped I could see it again during our date.

***

**please review :)**


	3. My Boyfriend

**PART 3: **My Boyfriend

This whole date thing was pretty new to me. When I first got with Ginny, we were still kids, and didn't have real dates. By the time we were older, we were already together so it wasn't a big deal.

But this with Draco had me completely nervous. Not only because it was my first real date, which was scary enough on it's own, but it was with a guy.

I let the idea sit in my head for a while, and even though it didn't bother me that I might be attracted to a man, there were some aspects that did.

Sex. I wasn't sure where to even begin having sex with a man, and wasn't even sure if I would enjoy it. Besides, it was obvious that Draco has way more experience in that department, and if things did progress there, I was sure I'd make a fool of myself.

But I tried to put that in the back of my mind as I made our dinner. Of course, there still was a chance Draco would never show up at all, and I'd be eating by myself. Although I felt pretty confident that he would show up. Sure enough, five minutes before six, I was proven right when as he knocked on my door.

"Hey," I greeted him dumbly. He looked like he always did, perfect. For a guy, he was very pretty, which may be the reason I was attracted to him. Of course, he still had many masculine features, but that only added to his beauty. "You look good."

"You could of tried harder." My mouth fell open and I just stared at him. I may not look as good as him, but I spent a good hour trying to look presentable.

"Sarcasm Harry, relax." Then he leaned in and kissed me on the cheek, causing me to blush profusely. "So, what's for dinner?"

***

The majority of the date was spent as we usually spent our time together. Laughing about the past and speaking of work. When we finished eating, we went to my living room for a drink, and that's when things got a little awkward.

Conversation ran dry and I was too nervous to speak even if I had anything to say.

"I have a confession," Draco whispered quietly, suddenly looking quite nervous. "I have liked you for a very long time. I'm sorry I lied before, I just always assumed you wouldn't be interested. I didn't want to give up my chance to be your friend."

"That would have never swayed me from being your friend Draco. Even if, well, even if things didn't change."

"So things have changed then?"

"Yeah. Honestly, I don't know how or when, I just know that they have." His confidence was back full force, and everything went into slow motion. Draco leaning forward, one hand brushing my hair out of my face, while the other wrapped around my neck. My eyes closed the second I felt his lips brush up against mine. He took my lower lip between his, nibbling softly.

Kissing a man was just like kissing a woman. Amazing.

When we finally broke apart, I wasn't ready to open my eyes, so I just sat there with a dreamy look on my face. When I did open them, it was to see Draco smiling. The silence was awkward, so I decided to break it.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"What made you like me? I mean, before we started talking. We weren't friends, why me?" I dreaded it immediately after I said it. I don't know why I had to ask questions that would surely ruin this perfect moment, but I did. "You don't have to answer."

"It's okay Harry." He reached over and placed his hand in mine. I wasn't sure if it was to comfort me or himself, but I didn't mind either way. "It was the night you saved me in the room of requirement. You came back to save me when you shouldn't have. That's when I first started seeing you differently."

"I could never allow someone to die if I had an opportunity to stop it."

"I know, and that's why it first changed. Then, when you sent me back my wand," He reached into his robe pocket pulling out his wand and stroking it. The same wand I faced Voldemort with for the last time, which I was grateful to get rid of by returning it to the rightful owner. "I knew I would always have respect for you for that. No one else could have been as noble as you."

"I'd hardly say I'm noble."

"You are. You're more than that. You're something else, Harry Potter. And these past few months have only made the feelings stronger."

He moved in again for a kiss, and I did nothing to stop him. I allowed the kiss to progress, and shortly I was laying down on the couch, Draco's body on top of mine.

It felt good, no, great. But I knew I wasn't ready to go any further than this so I began to sit up. Draco removed himself off of me and sat up, clearly taking the hint that it was enough.

"Sorry," I muttered under my breath, "This is still a bit new to me, I'd rather wait t-to.."

"It's okay Harry. I understand." Then I smiled and kissed him one last time before we said goodnight.

***

The next morning, I came into work a bit giddy. Ron immediately picked up on my happiness.

"Get lucky last night?" I blushed immediately and he started sporting a huge grin. "Oh Merlin. you did! So, who was it?"

"No one."

"Oh, you can't keep something like this from me."

"No Ron, I mean no one, because I didn't have sex last night."

"Oh," he sounded rather disappointed. "You know, maybe you should."

"What?"

"Well Harry, it's been a long time. At first I thought you were just upset about Gin, but let's face it, it's been over two years." Suddenly my happiness was dwindling. I hated talking about my sex life, or lack there of.

"I don't want to have sex with just anybody."

"Well how are you suppose to get a girlfriend when you refuse to ask anybody out."

"I've asked people out."

"Really, who?" If I were to say the truth, that I just asked Draco Malfoy out on a date, I was sure Ron would freak. So I decided to lie.

"I actually went on a date last night. With a muggle girl who lives around the corner from me."

"Good on you Harry, why didn't you say so? How'd it go? What's her name? What's she like?"

"Can't a bloke keep anything private?" I wouldn't really mind telling Ron any of that if I had in fact when on a date with a muggle girl who lived around the corner from me. But I did not, so I needed to stall a bit so I could think of a lie.

"Not from your best mate, c'mon, give me all the details."

"Her name's Amariah," there was a girl named Amariah who lived by him, but she happened to be seventy years old.

"She's a grade school teacher," which was what Amariah's career was until she retired. He looked at me longingly as if I didn't continue he would be personally injured.

"She's beautiful." I thought of Draco, and his beauty for that lie. "We kissed."

I looked over at Ron who had a huge grin on his face. "Just kissed?"

"We may have snogged a bit on my couch for a good part of the night?"

"Your couch? You brought her to your house?" Ron said shocked and I remembered that my sitting room was plastered in photos of friends and family, moving freely. Not exactly a sight for muggles.

"I moved the pictures, don't worry. She has no idea." I said to satisfy him, and hopefully end this conversation right away. I couldn't risk any more slip ups.

***

The first time I saw Draco since that night was when I was walking back to my office from lunch. Unfortunately Ron was with me, so I could only smile and say hi.

But after a few minutes alone in my office, I decided to go and visit him. When I got to his office, I knocked tentatively, wondering if he would be alright with me just dropping by his office unannounced.

When I got inside, he wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me softly.

"I've been wanting to do that since I first saw you." I smiled at his admission, realizing I felt the same way.

"I had a great time last night." I admitted, feeling a little giddy still from our date. "I was thinking maybe we could have a repeat sometime soon."

"Anytime."

"How about you come over tonight then?" I wasn't nervous about asking him this time, and he didn't seem to be either. So when he said yes, we kissed quickly, knowing we'd have plenty of time tonight for more.

***

Draco came over that night, and the following one as well. He started to come over every single night without having to ask, which didn't bother me one bit.

Each night was the same more or less. We'd share some idle chitchat, have something to eat, then snog each other senseless on my couch. I enjoyed every minute of it, but I was starting to think Draco wasn't.

Well I wouldn't say he didn't enjoy it either, but he always seemed to get a little frustrated when I put an end to our snogging. He would say he understood, but I knew he was waiting for more.

It's been two weeks of seeing each other every night, so I thought it could go a little bit further. Not all the way, mind you, but hopefully enough to keep Draco happy.

So when it got to the point where we were lying down, snogging heavily, instead of stopping him, I rubbed my hands down his side. I let my hands slide underneath his shirt, pulling it up.

He broke our kiss to remove his shirt completely, then started to work on mine. My skin felt like it was on fire as he roamed it with his hands. Gooseflesh covered my body and I was shivering with anticipation.

He removed his lips from mine and reattached them to my neck. The feeling caused my cock to harden instantly, straining against my pants for release.

He seemed to sense this, and immediately went for my buckle and I tensed up. As hard as I was, my nerves still got the better of me and I pushed Draco off of me.

He didn't look happy. In all honesty, he looked furious. I could tell he was trying to hide his discomfort, but wasn't succeeding.

"I'm sorry."

"You're always sorry." He snapped back at my lame apology.

"I know, and trust me, I get how this can get frustrating for you, but I'm not ready."

"You have no idea how frustrating this is for me. If you did, we wouldn't be having this conversation at all."

"I know. And I want you to be happy, but I'm not sure when I will be ready."

"Do you, honestly? Because lately I've been asking myself if you even liked me, or if I was just some answer to your homosexual curiosity."

"So because I'm not ready to have sex with you, I can't possibly like you?" I responded, knowing his words weren't complete rubbish. The whole reason I first asked Draco on a date was because I was curious. But it has become more than that since, right?

"It's not just the sex Harry, but why start something you don't plan on finishing." Then he quickly put on the rest of his clothes and left. I did want to stop him, but nothing I could of said would get him to stay.

So I thought. I thought about my feelings for this man that have developed so quickly.

I did like Draco. I liked him a lot. I looked forward to our nights together all throughout my day. But I still wasn't sure if I was ready to have sex with a man.

It was like my first time all over again, which was a disaster to say the least. Ginny was a sweetheart about it though. But then again, it was her first time as well. This wasn't Draco's first. I was fairly certain that he has had multiple partners, whereas my lame one, who was a woman, couldn't really prepare me for it.

Performance anxieties aside, it's only been two weeks.

Now to a man who is a member to a private club just for gay men to have sex, I can see how that may seem like a while to wait. But for a man who has only had one girlfriend, whom he didn't even sleep with until two years after they started dating, it was basically nothing.

I needed to keep Draco in my life. That much I knew. And since I still wasn't ready to have sex yet, I ought to explain why. The real reason. Maybe that way he would truly understand.

***

The next day at work, I went straight to Draco's office before heading to my own. He was just arriving and looked incredibly tired as if he was awake all night.

"Good morning," I offered as a friendly greeting but he just stared at me, looking disgruntled. "I was thinking a lot last night. About what you said."

"Is this where you tell me how sorry you are and that you hope we can remain friends?"

"Is that what you want?"

"I've already told you what I wanted."

"I'm just not ready to have sex yet." I took a deep breath to prepare myself for what I was about to say. "I've never had sex with a man before."

"I know that Harry, but.."

"Please, let me finish." He stopped short and gave me what I asked for. "Well, you see, I haven't had many partners ever. It's been a long time for me. This is hard to say."

"You're not saying much." He smirked, obviously in an attempt to make things easier for me.

"I'll just get on with it then," I smirked back, feeling like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. "This is embarrassing, but I only ever been intimate with one person." I tried to gauge his reaction, but he showed no emotion. "It was Ginny."

"But you guys broke up a long time ago."

"Yeah, that's sort of my point."

"Oh," He looked down and looked up again with a smile on his face. "You thought that would bother me? Merlin, Harry, it will only make things that much better."

"But I have no experience, I'll probably muck it all up."

"There is nothing I'd love more than to be your teacher." I blushed at the visuals that statement brought forth to my mind. Draco came over and embraced me while kissing me softly. "We'll take it slow, okay?" I nodded as I leaned forward, letting my head rest in the crook of his neck.

"I should probably get to work," I mumbled into his skin, not making a move to leave.

"Yeah, me too. Tonight then?"

"Tonight."

***

I went through my day in a state of bliss. I confessed my embarrassing secret to Draco, and he was happy about it. I was so content, anticipating our date tonight, I didn't even notice it was five minutes pass my usual time to meet Ron for lunch.

"Where have you been?" He asked me as I sat down.

"Didn't notice how late is was," I answered honestly.

"You seem happy today. Hot date again last night?" I nodded, not once removing the smile from my face. "Excellent. Anything you need to tell me?"

"If that's your way of asking if I got laid, then no."

"Still? Is she one of those girls who insist on waiting? I hate that." I laughed at his response, and not only because I was the girl insisting on waiting in this scenario. Ron always talked about women like he has been with hundreds, when in reality he's only been with Hermione.

"Something like that." I answered and he just shrugged apologetically. "But we have another date tonight."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Just then Draco walked into the Ministry cafeteria, putting a smile on my face. Ron seemed to notice and turned around to see what caught my attention.

"You're still talking to him?" He groaned and I nodded as I waved him over. "Why?"

I ignored his question as Draco joined us at our table. "Hey Harry." He smiled sweetly and gently placed his hand on my thigh, but removed it quickly before Ron noticed. "Weasley."

"So are you excited for your date tonight Harry?" Draco's head snapped towards mine looking shocked. Ron's face broke into a smirk that could rival Draco's. While I just sat there dumbfounded.

It was obvious Ron said that in an attempt to make Draco jealous of me seeing someone, and Draco thought that I had told Ron that I was dating him. I had to make sure I responded so both parties would understand.

"Yeah, Amariah promised me a good night." Ron seemed to beam at this, while Draco just stared at me in confusion.

"Who's Amariah?" Draco asked, but Ron didn't give me the chance to answer.

"Harry's girlfriend. I thought you would have known considering you and Harry are such good friends now. Apparently not that good."

"Apparently not." He responded, looking grumpy, but I saw right through it. Draco figured out what was going on and played the part of disappointment well.

***

"You're a wonderful actor." I commented as Draco was taking off his cloak. "You almost had me fooled. Ron definitely bought it."

"Yes, well, didn't you know Amariah took drama lessons as a child."

"Did she now?"

"Mmhmm." He hummed before pulling me into a heated kiss. "So what do we have planned for tonight?"

"I was thinking we'd just order some take out, sit in front of the fire, and do whatever comes to mind." I suggested and he immediately plastered a smirk on his face.

"I hope you know I have a very dirty mind Mr. Potter."

"I was hoping you'd say that." I retorted before pulling him into another kiss.

***

The night progressed as usual. Heavy snogging followed by stripping of shirts, except I didn't push him off when he reached for my pants. I didn't have to.

"Is this okay?" He asked my approval before unbuttoning them slowly. "Close your eyes." I complied easily, knowing I would be more nervous with my eyes open. I just allowed the sensations to wash over me as Draco wrapped his hand around my erection and stroked me slowly. He leaned forward, capturing my lips again, quieting the soft moans I was making.

He began to pump me faster, forcing me to pull away from his mouth in order to breath properly. I opened my eyes to look up at Draco's face watching mine. I didn't close my eyes again until the pleasure became too much and I had one of the most amazing orgasms ever.

He kissed me sweetly one more time before sliding my pants back up.

"So how was that first lesson?"

"Amazing," I said dreamily, "Professor." He chuckled at the nickname, earning him another kiss.

"Your turn." I suddenly froze, realizing what he meant. Of course he would want me to return the favor, it was selfish of me to think otherwise, even for just a moment.

But getting jerked off by a man, and jerking off another man are two very different things.

I slowly reached towards the clasp of his trousers, my hands visibly shaking. But before I managed to get the buttons undone, Draco's hand was on mine stopping me.

"What are you doing?" I asked, both hurt and grateful at the same time.

"Come on, it's obvious you don't want to do it. I'm not going to force you." He got up and started to put back on his shirt. I was positive that he was going to storm out, and I wasn't sure if I would be able to make things better in the morning, so I had to do whatever I could to get him to stay.

"I do want to do it," He rolled his eyes at me, but I persisted. "Honestly, I do. I want nothing more than to please you. I'm just nervous is all." And none of that was a lie. I did want to please Draco, but the idea of being with a man still made me feel uneasy.

"It's not that Harry," he looked defeated, and I wished I could read his mind and figure out exactly what he was thinking. "It's just, I can't stop feeling like you're using me."

"I am not using you. I promise, I would never do anything like that."

"I know, it's just look at it from my perspective. It's hard for me to not think like that."

"I thought you understood. I thought you said we'd take it slow." I said miserably. I should have known it was too good to be true that he was so accepting.

"This isn't just about sex." I looked up at him with wide eyes, truly confused. "I do understand that you want to takes things slow, and I don't have a problem with that. It's just, I don't know what I am to you. I don't know what I mean to you. I just need some kind of proof that I matter."

"Of course you matter. I like you Draco. I really, really like you. I don't want to lose you. And some day, I do want you to be my first. Guy. My first guy. I think of you as my boyfriend, I mean, if you want to be that is."

"Your boyfriend," he shrugged and looked down at the floor for a minute before returning his gaze to mine. "The boyfriend you don't have sex with, never go out with, and that no one knows about. How does that make me your boyfriend?"

"Draco.."

"Don't. Not now. Just think about it, okay? If you say anything now, you'll probably just make it worse. I'll see you tomorrow." He placed a small peck on my cheek before leaving me alone with my thoughts once again.

***

I resisted the temptation to rush to his office the next day and try and tell him that I wasn't using him again. I already told him that didn't help ease his worries. No, I knew I had to really prove it to him. But how?

I played his words over and over again in my head.

_The boyfriend you don't have sex with, never go out with, and no one knows about._

The sex issue was something I wasn't going to think about. I've already discussed my fears with Draco about that, and he seemed to accept it. No need to push that issue anymore.

Going out would be nice if we didn't have to worry about bring bombarded by annoying groupies, reporters, or both. When we weren't dating, it wasn't such a big deal, but now it was. I enjoyed our time together alone, and didn't fancy being interrupted.

So that left only one option. I had to tell someone my feelings for Draco, and that he was in fact, my boyfriend. I thought of Ron and Hermione first, considering they're my best friends, but I wasn't so sure how that would play out.

Hermione would most likely be shocked, but would support me. She was always the understanding one. Even she noticed that Draco has changed since we were in school and commended me for starting a friendship with him. Ron, however, wouldn't take it so easy.

He made it pretty clear how he felt about Malfoy in general, especially about his sexual preference. I'm fairly certain he would be alright with me being gay, even if it took a little bit of time to get use to. He was my best mate, and would stand by me no matter what, I was sure of that. But to find out I was dating Malfoy, well, let's just say he wouldn't take that so lightly.

So, here I was, back at square one. Clueless on what to do, and desperately trying to find some other way I could prove my feelings were genuine.

***

"How was your date last night?" Ron asked as soon as we sat down for lunch. I just shrugged, not really in the mood to make up another string a lies for him. "I guess not so well."

Which was true for the most part. Of course I could rectify the situation easily right now by telling Ron the truth, but I simply couldn't do it. I didn't want to see the look on his face as I told him I was gay. When he found out I was in a relationship with Draco. No, I couldn't see the disappointment in his eyes.

I thought maybe I should just tell Hermione, and let her be the one to tell him. Let her try and calm him down and see reason before he did something drastic like hexing Draco. Then again, in the end, Ron would probably be angry with me for telling her first.

"Is everything alright Harry?"

"Yeah, a lot on my mind. And before you ask, no, I don't feel like talking about it." He didn't seem to mind and just went about shoving his steak into his mouth.

"Oi, she's at it again!" Ron said as he spit little bits of steak across the table. I followed his gaze to find Teresa Pillit harassing Kingsley once again.

Pillit, or as we liked to call her Skeeter junior, was completely horrible. When she wanted a story, she wouldn't give up until she got it. But unlike Rita Skeeter, she only printed the truth, and everyone knew it. So anytime she managed to get some dirt on me, it was pointless to deny it.

Right now, I was positive she was questioning Kingsley on his new regime for the Aurors in training. He did change a lot of their practices, making it harder for new recruits to get into the program, but considering fewer Aurors were needed nowadays, it was for the best. Limited spots called for the best, it was only fair that he made them step up their game.

Kingsley seemed to be quite upset that she happened to disturb him during his lunch hour though, and I couldn't blame him. I been under her scrutiny many times before and dreaded it just as much. He looked like he was in desperate need of rescuing, and I wished there was something I could do for him.

But there was something I could do for him.

The idea struck me, and I could of killed myself I haven't thought of it before. I could tell someone how I felt about Draco, without having to face the look of horror on their faces.

Sure, I would get plenty of stares from strangers. People would talk behind my back and it probably wouldn't be anything good, but I didn't care what any of them thought. It was my friends I was worried about. If I didn't have to tell them personally, they would have time to get use to the idea before we talked about it.

It was perfect.

"I think Kingsley could use some help," I said as I got up from the table, ignoring Ron's mumbling that I was crazy. If only he knew how crazy I actually was.

"Teresa Pillit." I greeted and she turned her attentions away from our Head Auror and put a wicked grin on.

"Harry Potter, what do I owe this honor."

"Actually, I was hoping you might write a story for me."

"Oh really, and what would that story be?"

"Maybe we could talk in private?" She nodded, saying her farewells to Kingsley before walking off with me into the hallway.

"I do hope you're bringing me good news. My editor is really breathing down my neck for something, and I almost got Shacklebot to agree to an interview."

"Oh, trust me, your editor will be quite pleased with what you'll be bringing him. That is a promise."

***

**Remember to review, and I may put my fingers into overtime to get the last chapter out sooner.**


	4. Cheriwood

**A/N: This is the final chapter of Love In The Limelight. My longest and favorite by far. That explicit slash warning I gave finally has a reason. :) Hope you all enjoy, please remember to review, and enjoy.**

*******

**Part 4: Cheriwood**

I didn't get a subscription to the Daily Prophet. Half of what was written in there was rubbish, and I didn't care to read it. If anything important was happening, I could easily pick one up at the Ministry.

But I wasn't surprised today when a large owl came swarming through my window with a copy of the morning edition. Pillit told me that she would send a copy, even though I declined at the time.

I was grateful that she didn't listen to me and went ahead and sent one anyway. It would be best to read the article myself before I faced the masses. When I unrolled it, I immediately saw the same picture of Draco and myself that was on the front cover just a couple months ago.

It was a lot smaller in this issue though, and seemed to be just a teaser, as it had small print just below it.

_Harry Potter confirms rumors of his relationship_

_with Draco Malfoy in this exclusive interview,_

_only in the Daily Prophet. Page 3._

I only glanced at the photo that started my relationship with Draco for a few more seconds before turning to the third page to read the article that would shock many, but hopefully save my relationship with Draco.

There were two more photos on that page. One taken by the Ministry when I first became an Auror. I was smiling brightly, fresh in my Auror robes, and quite happy with my accomplishments.

The other photo was of Draco, unfortunately at his worse. It was just after the war and all suspected Death Eaters were torn away from their homes or hideouts to be brought to trial. It was just outside the Mansion, where Draco cried for his parents, as they were dragged away separately to be held up in Ministry holding cells until trial.

I cringed thinking of Draco being forced to sit in those holding cells, that were still guarded by dementors at the time. I returned my attention to the article before I dampened my good mood by thinking of the past.

_'POTTER AND MALFOY LOVERS?'_ Headlined the article, and it made me smile. Yes, we were lovers. I never felt less embarrassed for having my personal life out in the open like this.

After the interview though, I did feel extremely self-conscience and nervous pending the article. But after sleeping on it, I thought it was a brilliant idea. It's about time I stopped worrying about hiding. The public wanted to know about me, and it was useless to fight them. I could only hope it worked out as well as I planned.

***

_The savior of of world may be busy as a bee now_

_being an Auror, but that isn't stopping him from_

_having a personal life. Rumors have been flying_

_of Britain's most eligible bachelor forming a_

_relationship with Draco Malfoy, and our hero has_

_finally confirmed them._

_"Draco is my boyfriend," Harry told me over a_

_lunch interview, "It's come to the point where I'm_

_tired of hiding. I want everyone to know how I feel_

_about him."_

_Many of Harry's fans will be disappointed with this_

_revelation, and not just because he's off the_

_market. People are still apprehensive about the_

_Malfoy family, and how they were the only suspect-_

_ed Death Eaters to have closed trials. Draco, the_

_heir of the Malfoy fortune, was known to be on the_

_trial list, and even though it was held privately, the_

_outcome was not._

_"Draco was found innocent for a reason," Harry_

_seemed to get a little defensive of talking of his_

_lover's part in the war. "I was at his trial, all of the_

_Malfoy's trials actually, and I agree with the_

_Wizengamot full-heartedly."_

_The public is less inclined to agree, as the family_

_still faces many difficulties. But will this new rela-_

_tionship between the youngest Malfoy and our_

_savior make those problems of the past, or will it_

_only make them worse?_

_"I would hope that my relationship will help prove_

_to people that the Malfoy family, who have their_

_faults just like any other family, are not as bad as_

_the public puts on. The problems they face today_

_are just brought on my prejudices and old rivalries,_

_and it's about time they stop."_

_We at the Daily Prophet couldn't agree more, and_

_hope everyone takes something out of Harry's_

_words._

_Putting the Malfoy family problem's aside, there are_

_still many young women who are going to be dis-_

_appointed with the revelation of Harry's sexual_

_preference._

_"I didn't know I was gay until Draco." Harry admitted,_

_"But I'm sorry to disappoint, I'm just being true to my_

_heart."_

_The statement warmed us all and I couldn't help but_

_ask the one question floating in everyone's mind. How_

_serious was their relationship? Was our hero in love?_

_"Draco and I still haven't talked about that, but between_

_you and me, I think I just might [love him]."_

_We at the Daily Prophet wish Harry and Draco the best,_

_and hope others follow Harry's lead in putting the past_

_where it belongs, behind us. -Teresa Pillit_

I put the paper back down on to my table, happy with the results of my interview. The article was tasteful, just like I had asked. I couldn't be happier with how it was written. If this didn't put Draco's fears to a rest then nothing would.

Although the whole reason I decided to talk to Pillit was so I wouldn't have to face everyone's reaction to the news, there was nothing I wanted to see more than the look on Draco's face when he discovered what I had done.

***

"Good Morning Father, Mother." Draco greeted his parents as he did every morning. His father had his face buried in the paper, as usual, while his mother drank her tea and watched the birds flutter about in the gardens outside.

He fixed himself a plate, and sat down. Grabbing a piece of toast from the center of the table, he began to smear some jam onto it, when he caught a glimpse of something that caught his eye.

On the front of his fathers paper was the same photo of Harry and himself walking home. Out of curiosity, he leaned forward to see what they had to say about them now.

His eyes widen, and his heart started racing when he finally read the smaller print. Decent courtesy went out the window as he ripped the paper from his father's hands and immediately went to the third page to read the article.

Shocked. Confused. Elated. Just three of the words to describe his reaction. He was only halfway through the article when his father's voice broke him from his daze.

"Yes, imagine my surprise when I opened my paper to find that headline staring at my face." He'd almost forgotten his parents were in the room until he heard his father speak. "I knew you were lying when you said nothing was going on with Potter, but to see it on the front page. Well, let's just say, that was unexpected."

"Father..." Draco paused, not sure what to say. He wanted Harry to embrace their relationship but he didn't plan on having to deal with his parents knowing.

"I've always accepted your lifestyle choice Draco. All I asked of you was to keep quiet about it. I shouldn't be reading about it when I'm drinking my morning tea."

"I'm sorry Father, I didn't know he was going to do this." It was true that he didn't know what Harry planned, but he certainly wasn't sorry that he did it.

"I knew there was no way for this to be kept secret forever. The public would eventually catch up with you if you were to never produce an heir. I'd imagine it could of went worse."

"What are you saying?" Draco asked his father. He was positive he knew what his father was saying, but he couldn't believe his ears.

"Coming out as Harry Potter's boyfriend could only benefit our family."

"So you're not mad then?"

"Have you read the article Draco? They're encouraging exactly what we've been striving for. To separate the Malfoy name from the war. To forget what happened. This is exactly what we need."

"So you're happy about this?" Draco asked unbelieving.

"You could say that." He quickly turned towards his mother who was smiling at him, letting him know she felt the same way.

"I should get to work." Draco stated happily. He jumped out of his seat, forgetting his breakfast and was just at the door when his father stopped him.

"Draco.." He closed his eyes and sighed, knowing it was too good to be true. His father had more to say, and he was certain it wasn't good.

"Yes Father?" He asked hesitantly. He wanted nothing more than to run out of the kitchen, but he wouldn't.

"My paper. I'm not finished with it." Draco looked down at his hands and realized he was still gripping the Daily Prophet tightly in his hands.

"Oh, right." He gave the paper back to his father and quickly exited the room before he had any more hold ups.

***

Hermione, who got up extra early today, decided it would be nice for her to prepare breakfast for her future husband. They were both constantly eating breakfast on the go because of their demanding jobs, so it would be a nice change.

When she heard the water stopped running, she rushed to set up the table so her hard work would look more presentable. A few minutes later, Ron's footsteps could be heard coming down the hall.

"Do I smell sausage?" His mouth turned into a huge smile when he saw what his girlfriend had done for him and he immediately went to the table, grabbed a sausage and took a large bite before giving his fiancée a kiss on the cheek. "You're wonderful Hermione."

"Yes, although next time, kiss before filling your mouth with sausage." He took another large bite before planting a big wet kiss on her mouth, pieces of the meat being left behind.

"I can't believe I agreed to marry you." She laughed as she wiped away the food from her face. "You better hurry up, you don't want to be late."

"They can wait. I'm going to spend as much time as possibly with you as I can this morning."

"You can't be late for work. Now eat up, and we'll spend time together tonight." Ron didn't bother to argue, knowing it was pointless. He dug into his delicious breakfast with fervor. When he was completely stuffed, he took one more sip of his juice before getting up.

"See you tonight then?" Hermione nodded and kissed him goodbye, before picking up the paper. Ron sprinted out the door, and was just about to apparate when he heard Hermione shriek his name from inside the house.

He rushed as fast as possible, wand at the ready. Expecting to find her under some sort of attack, it caught him off guard that she was just sitting at the table reading the paper.

"Mione, what's wrong?"

"I think you should read this."

"So I can't be late to spend time with you, but it's okay if I want to read the paper."

"Trust me Ron, you have to read this before you go in today."

***

When I arrived at work, I got plenty of dirty looks from people who saw me. Thankfully most people were too busy to even notice I was in the building.

It didn't really matter though. It was Friday, so most people will have the weekend to get over it. Which will leave my weekend to spend as much time with Draco as possible.

When I got off the lifts, I could see Ron standing just outside my office, and for the first time of the day I became extremely nervous.

I didn't want to fight with him about this. I could only hope he would try and accept this. Well, at least tolerate it. I didn't want to lose my best mate or my boyfriend, and I was determined to make sure I didn't. So I would listen to whatever he had to say, speak my piece, and that will be it.

"Hey."

"Can I come in?" He asked lamely, but I nodded, decided it was best the whole Auror department didn't hear us speaking. I sat down at my desk, and Ron sat across from me. Then he pulled out a copy of the Daily Prophet and dropped it in front of me.

"Yes, it's true." I answered his unasked question. He sat there, in stunned silence, which had me confused. I thought he would yell, question me, and maybe even throw a curse or two. Doing nothing was not something I anticipated. "Ron?"

"You love Malfoy." He roused from his daze, but didn't yell. He just spoke calmly and I listened. "That's what you're telling me? That you've been dating him behind my back."

"Yes, I didn't want to hide it from you, it's just, I wasn't sure it was going to turn out like this."

"So you give Pillit an interview about it before you tell me?" He asked, sounding hurt. "That's why you went off with her yesterday. Why couldn't you just tell me?"

"I was afraid." I answered truthfully. He just sighed and stood up.

"Afraid of what? I'm your best mate, Harry! You're suppose to tell me everything."

"I know. I just, I didn't know how you'd react. I didn't want to lose you over this."

"Merlin, after everything we've been through together, you'd think I'd stop being your friend cause you're a poof."

"Well, no," I laughed awkwardly. "Not because of that. I know how you feel about Draco."

"Malfoy is a git, there's no doubt about that. But I won't deny he has changed since the war."

"So you're okay with it then?"

"As long as you don't expect me to start inviting him for tea." I smiled, accompanied by a slight chuckle. It was weird how accepting he was being, but I have no doubt Hermione helped with that. Then there was a knock on my door. I granted them permission to come in, hoping it wasn't someone to question me about the article.

When the door opened, I was greeted by a very happy looking Draco Malfoy.

"Hey you." I said silly, knowing he must have read the article.

"Hey yourself." Ron started to fidget and I could tell he felt uncomfortable. Draco then walked right over to my side of the desk and kissed me.

I lost myself in it for just a moment when I realized Ron was still in the room. When I looked over at him, he seemed to be straining himself to look up at the ceiling.

"So we'll talk more at lunch then, alright Ron?"

"Yeah, lunch. Right." He was quickly making his exit but he stopped with his handle on the door. "Harry. What about Amariah?"

Draco snorted, but I pushed him gently. It always took Ron a few minutes to figure things out and I knew he would if I just gave him a little nudge.

"There is no Amariah."

"What? But you told me..oh. Him? All this time?" I just nodded.

"We'll talk more at lunch."

"So you two still haven't done that?" I laughed and shook my head. Leave it to Ron to be thinking about sex after I just came out to their entire wizarding world. "I know I asked you to tell me when you did, but I think this time it would be alright if you kept that information to yourself."

"No problem, Ron. I'll see you at lunch."

Ron then walked out of my office mumbling something about lunch, I just smiled watching him go. He was okay with this, or at least trying to be, and nothing else mattered at the moment. I walked back to where Draco stood smiling.

"He's quite dense, isn't he?"

"Shut up. He's just shocked is all, but he's accepting us, and that's all that matters. Last thing I need is to have another row with him."

"Not that I'm complaining, but what possessed you to talk to Teresa Pillit about us."

"Oh, maybe because my boyfriend wanted a little validation. What better way then to announce it in the Daily Prophet?"

"You know, I would of be okay if you just told your friends. I would have gotten the message just as clear."

"This was actually easier for me," I joked as I went over and kissed him one more time. "And don't you think we should both get to work now."

"Oh I so don't want to. Can't we take a sick day?"

"I think they might catch on," I laughed but kissed him once again. "Tonight, me and you. Dinner."

"Were going out then?" He asked. Even though I meant a quiet dinner at home just the two of us, he seemed so eager at the prospect of going out I nodded.

"Excellent. Will you be picking me up, or should I pick you up?"

"I think I'll pick you up for a change."

"You know how to get to the Mansion then?"

"Yeah, I remember."

***

The rest of my day went pretty smoothly. Lunch with Ron and Hermione went perfectly, besides Hermione yelling at me for not including Draco in our lunch.

It's not as if I didn't want him there, but we traditionally only ever ate lunch just the three of us on Fridays, and I figured it would be rude to assume Draco could come.

Hermione seemed pretty ecstatic about me finally being in a relationship. Apparently Ron wasn't my only friend who thought I should of been dating more.

I got my work done fairly quickly and then decided to floo call the restaurant Draco and I first had dinner at together, and make reservations for tonight.

The woman who answered the call seemed a little too giddy that I was going to be dining at her restaurant with Draco Malfoy, which made me both nervous and happy.

Nervous, because I didn't want to deal with a million people interrupting our date. The less who knew about it, the better, but I had a feeling this woman wasn't going to keep this tidbit of information to herself.

Happy, because not once did she complain about a Malfoy being in their restaurant. Considering just a few months ago, Draco wasn't even allowed to step foot into the building, it was a good thought, and I knew Draco would be pleased.

But by the time I got home, I felt very odd trying to make myself presentable to eat out. I felt like I needed to impress Draco, even though we've been dating a few weeks. This was the first time we will be going out as a couple, and it was nerve wracking.

By the time I had to leave, after hours of pampering, I thought I looked presentable enough. When I opened my door, I was unfortunately greeted by a group of reporters looking for a interview of their own. I closed the door once again.

I decided to floo over to Malfoy Manor, even if it did seem a little rude. Draco would understand when I explained the situation. Of course I didn't consider it wouldn't be Draco who greeted me at the other side of the floo.

"Not many would risk flooing into a home they weren't authorized to enter. It is highly illegal, but considering your position as an Auror, you already know this."

"Mr. Malfoy. I'm sorry, I'm here for Draco." I felt very weird talking to Lucius Malfoy. I haven't seen him since his trial, where he was sentenced to one year in Azkaban followed by parole for the remainder of his life.

"I didn't think you were here on business. Don't worry, he'll be down momentarily. You've activated our alarms."

"Alarms?"

"Not to worry, just a precaution. No authorities are called, just protecting our own."

"Right." I sighed in relief. I would of hated to have to explain to Kingsley why I was illegally flooing into any home. It wasn't a serious offense, and usually didn't hold more of a penalty than a small fine, but for an Auror, it's quite embarrassing.

"I imagine you were just avoiding the protesters?"

"Excuse me?"

"Protesters. Gathered outside about an hour ago. Apparently some people don't agree with your little article." I walked over to the window he gestured towards and glanced out the blinds. The edge of the grounds was pretty far off, but there was no mistaking the small group of protesters just outside the gate.

"Harry?" I turned around and saw Draco looking quite disheveled.

"Hey, you almost ready?" He didn't look anywhere near ready.

"Uh, yeah. Want to come upstairs with me?"

"Sure." Draco usually looked pampered just going to work so I was worried what had him looking the way he was. When we got out of earshot from his father, asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine. Just didn't think you wanted to left with my father." I knew there was more that he wasn't sharing, but I let it go. "This is my room."

I walked in and sat down on the bed. He continued to get dressed as if I wasn't in the room, but I didn't mind. Although I kept getting the feeling something was bothering him.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just these stupid protesters. Idiots."

"Exactly. They're idiots. Don't let them bother you. This is our night." He walked over to the bed, just in his shirt and boxers, and kissed me. I leaned back on the bed and he climbed on top of me. I immediately began to get hard and decided it best we stop so we wouldn't miss our reservations. "We should probably leave soon."

"I guess I better get ready then. Although, the prospect of keeping you in my room all night does have its sort of allure, don't you think?"

"I think we should get going." I said through my laughter. It sounded like an excellent idea actually, but we made plans to go out. I didn't want to go out originally, but with the reporters, and now protesters, I felt like I needed to prove something.

"Right, right." He waved his hand in the air to shut me up. "Two minutes and were gone."

***

It was more like twelve minutes before Draco was finished getting ready, but considering he came out looking gorgeous beyond belief, I didn't complain.

We were forced to walk towards the protesters, but thankfully we didn't have to go through them to get outside of the wards. I tried to ignore what they were saying but it was all directed towards Draco.

It seemed they were accusing him of cursing me into being his lover. I asked if he wanted me to tell them the truth, but he said it probably wouldn't help, and I agreed. We apparated away without a word to any of them.

We were just in the alleyway around the corner from the restaurant. Although it was a Wizarding establishment, it resided in Muggle London, so you had to either floo in, or apparate a safe distance away.

After getting a glance around the corner, I was glad that we didn't decide to floo in. In the main entranceway, Teresa Pillit, her photographer, and what appeared to be two other reporters were arguing. I couldn't make out their words, but I was certain I didn't want to intervene.

"Maybe its too soon for us to go out." I heard Draco say from behind me.

"No, we shouldn't have to stay inside. We should be able to go out without being bothered."

"You're right, but that's not going to happen, not tonight anyway. Let's just go back to your place and you can cook me dinner," he said cheekily, but I still felt wronged.

"Reporters were at my place earlier, and as soon as they realize we don't turn up for our reservations, you can guarantee they'll be back. This is ridiculous. Is it so much to ask to be able to go out with my boyfriend?"

"Harry, let's just go. Your place, my place, it doesn't matter. Let's just go."

"So we can have reporters or protesters bothering us the whole night? What's the difference?"

"So what do you want?"

"I just want to have dinner with you. I just want to be with you. Maybe we could try a muggle restaurant?" There was a moment of silence, and I was certain we were both thinking the same thing. It was impossible. No matter where we went, muggle establishment or not, we weren't going to be left alone.

"I know somewhere we can go. It's not exactly a restaurant, but we'll be able to eat, and I can guarantee privacy."

"Guarantee huh? Well, I'm in then. Let's go."

"I mean, it's not the most conventional.."

"Draco. As long as we'll be left alone, I don't care. Let's just get out of here." I didn't need to hear his explanation of where he was taking me. Anywhere had to be better than this. So when he held out his arm to apparate me side along, I didn't hesitate.

***

I wasn't sure what to expect when Draco apparated me to a sketchy part of a muggle neighborhood. I was definitely taken by surprise. Not because it was sketchy, but because there wasn't a wizard in sight other than us.

Draco wasn't known much for his dealings with muggles, so I was curious to where he could be taking me, but I didn't ask. He told me it would be unconventional, and I trusted him to take good care of me, so I followed him blindly.

He led me down the street, there were plenty of people hanging around, but no one seemed to care about what we were up to, even though we were wearing our robes and cloaks. It didn't seem weird behavior was uncommon in this town.

We finally made a stop at an abandoned building, that seemed to be an old cafe. It looked like it hasn't been touched in years. The siding was falling off, all the paint had faded, and the grass had obviously not been cut in quite some time. Some of the larger weeds blocked off most of the windows on the first floor.

We walked inside, to my surprise, into an old cafe that looked completely deserted. I was expecting to walk into a busy wizarding cafe, and I was beginning to feel a little confused why he brought me here.

"Draco, where are we?"

"Were at Cheriwood Harry." I honestly didn't know what to think. Did he bring me here to have sex with me? Was this his way of telling me he was tired of waiting? "It's not what you're thinking."

"Oh," I answered. "What am I thinking then?"

"This isn't just a place to have sex. Don't get me wrong, a lot of it's going on, but that's not that its all about. It's a place where guys can meet other guys without being judged. They hang out and eat and talk. We never have to step foot in a bedroom. Promise."

"I'm with you." He smiled and pulled me towards the back of the cafe where and old rickety staircase stood. We got to the top and Draco tapped his wand to the door. The door then seemed to unlock as if Draco did a simple "Alohomora," but it was obviously something more.

On the other side of the door, I finally saw the amazement I was looking for when we first entered the cafe. There was a large banquet like room. There were only a few tables scarcely placed about, and multitudes of couches around filled with men. In the center of the room was a large spiral staircase, which led up to the balcony style second floor, which looked almost like a hotel room.

"So, what do you think?" Draco asked me and I smiled at him, placing a kiss on his lips. "I take it you like?" I nodded as I looked around the room some more. Glancing around at each individual man, some were looking at him, others didn't seem to notice anyone walked in the room.

"Didn't expect to see you here. What's your boyfriend going to think?" I looked over at the familiar voice and saw Gregory Goyle just a few feet away talking to Draco. I walked the few steps so Goyle would take notice of me, and when he did he just scoffed.

"Let's go sit down." I said to Draco, ignoring Goyle and his dazed look. Draco nodded and we took a seat at one of the tables.

***

It wasn't a restaurant, but the food was delicious. House elves popped in and out tending to anyone's needs. This club was obviously reserved to those of upper class. I didn't even want to think Draco paid to be a member here.

After we ate, I felt incredibly awkward being around all these men. I wanted to be alone with Draco, but the only place I could do that is in one of the bedrooms. Tonight, after everything, I was positive if things got heated up, I wouldn't say no.

"What do you want to do now?" I asked, unsure of what I really wanted in that moment.

"We could go get a couch if you want." I shrugged, obviously not wanting to stay surrounded by everyone, but I didn't want to suggest going to a room. I wasn't sure how far I wanted to go just yet, and I suggested a room, sex would be implied. "How about a room? Just to be alone." I sighed in relief and nodded.

"That sounds nice." We got up and walked side by side up the stairs. At the top sat an elf handed Draco a key, and Draco directed me to the room.

There was paintings hanging around the walls, giving it the feeling of a hotel, but little furniture. The fireplace was against the back wall with a plush rug in front. There was a large chair, that could easily fit two, off to the side and of course, a bed.

I sat down on the bed and Draco sat down on the chair. It was incredible awkward. Normally we would sit as close as possible, but somehow being here made things different.

"So you're parents didn't seem so surprised to find out we were together." I did not want to talk about Draco's parents, but I just blurted whatever I could think of to kill some of the tension.

"They seemed to be happy about it actually. That's the shocking part."

"Yeah." I was hoping that could of kept some conversation going, but not so much. It wasn't any use. Someone had to make the first move and I had a feeling Draco was trying very hard not to overstep his bounds, so it had to be me.

I decided actions were better than words, so I got off the bed and squeezed into the chair bringing our bodies extremely close. He took the hint and leaned in to kiss me. He lifted his legs up and let them drape across my own, and wrapped his arms around me.

"I love you Harry." I answered with a kiss, lifting him slightly so he was on my lap. "'Love you so much."

"Draco. I want you to teach me."

"Teach you? You mean it?"

"I was waiting because I was scared. Terrified actually. Maybe I still am a little, but it doesn't matter. I love you, and I want you, and I see no reason for us not to do this."

"Merlin, I love you." I laughed at him but picked him up, using most of my strength, and carried him over to the bed.

"You're rather heavy," I joked but he just laughed as he pulled me on top of him. This was comfortable and familiar. Our bodies pressing together as our mouths danced together. We stripped ourselves of our robes and pressed our almost nude bodies together causing incredible friction. It wasn't much different than making love to Ginny so far, but that changed when Draco spoke.

"Lube." As soon as he said it a small jar appeared on the small table next to the bed. He nodded for me to grab it. I opened up the jar and a scent of strawberries invaded my senses. He removed his underwear, and reached inside with two fingers taking a good amount out. He reached down, forcing me to sit up as he lifted his leg to reach his entrance.

I just watched the arousing display in front of me. I don't know how I could not be turned on by a man, a beautiful man, shoving his fingers into himself. I didn't know how this could be considered wrong.

When he was finished, he got more lube and rubbed his palms together. I took off my own underwear, then reached for my cock, already hard to its fullest and began to stroke me, leaving plenty of the oily substance behind.

"Lay down on your back." I did as he commanded, no questions asked. He then straddled my hips, and leaned down for another kiss. He stood up on his knees and let his upper body fall back slightly, gripping one of my thighs for leverage. He then grabbed my erection, and began to lower himself onto it.

The second I was inside of him, my whole body arched, craving more of it. When I was completely inside of him, he maneuvered himself so his hands rested against my chest and his face was directly in front of mine.

We said nothing, knowing that no words would be able to describe how either one of us was feeling. But I knew, at that moment, he felt just as I did. Just as aroused. Just as loved.

He began to ride me quickly, causing uncontrollable panting and gasping to come out of my mouth. He would lean forward to kiss me every few seconds giving me a chance to have free reign of his body.

It was so amazing, I wish I wouldn't have taken so long experience this, the again, it might have been the waiting that made this moment so magical.

"I'm close.." Draco's voice was barely a whisper but I heard him loud and clear, and found myself in the same situation. He began to stroke his own erection as he bounced lightly on top of me.

Overcome with the feeling to feel Draco in my hands for the first time, I moved his hands out of the way and continued the work he started. He began to ride faster, making me stroke faster until he was coming in spurts all over my stomach.

I thrust up into him a few more times, Draco grunting with each one, until I had my own release. I never felt more satisfied. It was never like this with Ginny, and I had a feeling it wouldn't be the same with another woman, or even another man. This was something only Draco could give me, and I wouldn't give it up for the world.

***

**10 Years Later...**

"Did you see the prophet this morning?" I asked my soon-to-be husband when I walked in the door. "There was a nice photo of you standing on a shed whizzing into the pond in Ron's yard."

"Yes, I've seen it," he nodded towards the fireplace, indicating what he did with the offending photo. "And you may want to talk to your little employee, Mr. Head Auror. Getting people drunk and betting them to do stupid things so you can snap photos and sell them to the prophet are illegal."

"Is that so?" I laughed knowing Ron would probably think it was still worth it even if it actually was illegal. "I guess I'll have to talk to him then."

"Mark my words. There will be vengeance reaped upon him."

"I'm sure you'll handle it wonderfully." I took off my cloak and hung it on the rack by the door before joining Draco on the couch. "So I went to Griggots after work. There seemed to be a large amount of money missing. You didn't happen to gamble at last weeks game, did you? You said you were going to stop these outrageous bets."

"No, I didn't. If you must know, I took some money out to buy you a present."

"Mm, I like presents." I said leaning forward to kiss him. "What is it?"

"It's a surprise."

"Is that right? Can I guess? New clothes? New broom? Vacation? Oh, we could use a vacation."

"What part of surprise do you not get?" He asked as I climbed onto his lap. "You'll find out in two weeks."

"What's in two weeks?"

"You better be joking Potter or you're not getting laid for a very long time." I laughed and kissed him, knowing that even if I actually did forget out anniversary, he wouldn't hold up to that promise.

"I could never forget."

"Oh, I saw Greg today. They're really going through with it."

"They're closing Cheriwood?" I

"Yeah, apparently not enough memberships to keep the place running. Most of the guys just started going to muggle clubs. Seem to think they're less traceable, ever since we sorta blew the lid on their location." Draco said with a grin. We did accidentally let some reporter know where Cheriwood was, but we had no idea he was following us. Granted, we were a bit pissed and weren't paying much attention.

"That's a shame though. We've had some pretty good times there. It's sort of taking a big piece of our past away. I wish they wouldn't close."

"Yeah, there are definitely some good memories there. I was hoping we could make some new ones sometime."

"We haven't been there in almost six years." I laughed but Draco mocked offense.

"More argument for our point. To leave it off like that. We hadn't ever had a proper goodbye."

"When are they closing officially?

"Two weeks. Our anniversary, go figure."

"Well I'm fairly certain that gives us fourteen days of memories waiting to happen."

"Yeah?" He challenged and I just removed myself from his lap and offered him my hand. "Your on Potter."

"You better put in some of those vacation days, because you're going to be hurting tomorrow."

"Yeah, we'll see about that."

***

Fin

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